Abstract:
Every fifth scanning microscope in the world's research facilities or big company labs contains a micro needle produced by Estonia's most successful nanotechnology undertaking Mikromasch, tigerprises.com writes.

Mikromasch's leader and owner Pavel Kudinski says a 15-20 pct market share in the world and a couple of thousand clients might sound great, yet it is a very narrow niche market - Mikromasch produces only a couple of tens of thousands of micro needles a year. These needles are mostly bought by research institutions, microscope manufacturers such as Seiko or large companies such as Bayersdorf or Daimler Benz.

Mikromasch's global structure is so complex that Kudinski himself finds it difficult to grasp. The outfit's headquarters is in Estonia, it has sibling companies in Spain and the US. At the same time, most of the undertaking's production is done in Zelenograd, Russia, a smaller portion in Tartu, Estonia. The company has outsourcing partners in South-Korea and the US. Furthermore, Mikromasch is one of the few Estonian companies that has a representation in Silicon Valley in the US. Thus, this outfit is extremely rich in knowledge, most of its brain, however, is located not in Estonia but Russia.